Toyota moots making hybrid in UK

The Auris hatchback is built in Derbyshire

Japanese car firm Toyota has confirmed it is considering making a hybrid model of the Auris hatchback in the UK.

Karen Bradley, a spokesperson for Toyota's Burnaston plant in Derbyshire said the firm was investigating the possibility but gave no other details.

Hybrid versions of other Toyota models are made in the US and Japan but none are manufactured in the UK. The Auris hatchback is made in the UK and Turkey.

Toyota has targeted the hybrid market, as interest in greener cars has grown.

A report from Japanese newspaper Jikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Tuesday said Toyota would start making the new Auris hybrid around 2012.

The firm recently unveiled a new version of its Prius petrol-electric hybrid in Japan.

At the time of the launch, president Akio Toyoda said the future of cars would rest on this model.

Toyota's Prius is the world's best-selling hybrid, though the firm has been challenged by a cheaper model from Honda, the Insight.